Fred and Sephira Shuttlesworth, shown in a file photo from September 2010, visit Phillips Academy in Birmingham. (The Birmingham News/Bernard Troncale)

The Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth's children say their father's Birmingham legacy is secure, he is not destitute and the ailing civil rights icon does not need charity.

Shuttlesworth's four children, who live in Cincinnati, issued a written statement Thursday in response to his wife's recent creation of a foundation that received funding from the city of Birmingham this week to memorialize him after his death and secure a location for his interment.

The City Council on Tuesday approved giving $20,000 to the Fred Shuttlesworth Foundation following a presentation and recommendation from Mayor William Bell's office. Officials said the money would fund the foundation's "Fred Shuttlesworth Legacy Project," which includes establishing a burial place for him and incorporating it into the city's ongoing Civil Rights Trail project.

Sephira Shuttlesworth registered the nonprofit foundation named for her husband in August.

However, her husband's children said the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is already in place and preserves their father's contribution to the movement.

"We suggest that anyone who would want to honor him would make donations to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute to continue the fight for Civil Rights and to aid the poor and the needy," the statement from Patricia Shuttlesworth Massengill, Ruby Shuttlesworth Bester, Fred L. Shuttlesworth Jr. and Carolyn Shuttlesworth reads. "He never expected nor required any favoritism. Our father is not indigent and he has prepared for his final disposition."

Sephira Shuttlesworth said Thursday she had no comment about her stepchildren's statement.

Fred Shuttlesworth, 89, has been in the hospital more than two weeks.

Bell Thursday said the city's participation was intended only to show respect for the civil rights leader.

"We will be looking at all the family members' concerns and will do what is appropriate in Rev. Shuttlesworth's eyes in how we can honor him," Bell said.

Shuttlesworth led the city's civil rights struggle and is credited with bringing Martin Luther King Jr., and a national spotlight, to Birmingham. His church, Bethel Baptist, and his home were bombed multiple times by the Ku Klux Klan. He left Birmingham for Cincinnati in 1961 but remained active here. In 1963, he and King led marches in downtown Birmingham that resulted in King's being jailed and Shuttlesworth's being knocked down by a fire hose and hospitalized. He moved back to Birmingham permanently in 2008.

In their statement Thursday, Shuttlesworth's children listed several honors already given to their father in Birmingham, including two streets, a renamed airport and a statue at the Civil Rights Institute.

"We are very proud of our father. Again, thank you for all that the City of Birmingham has done," the letter concludes.

Some family members said they were unaware of the new foundation until this week.

The statement is the latest in a series of rifts between Shuttlesworth's wife, who married him in 2006, and his children.

The family's joint opposition this week surprised members of the Birmingham City Council, some of whom now call for a review of the donation before any money is delivered.

"It appears to me that the children have a clear understanding as to what his needs are," said Councilman Steven Hoyt.

Hoyt said he favors recalling the allocation and instead supporting the BCRI's ongoing educational mission and preservation of Shuttlesworth's history. The city this week gave an additional $400,000 to the museum.

"I don't know what Mrs. Shuttlesworth can do that's any different," Hoyt said. "We're talking about hundreds if not thousands of documents that have already chronicled his legacy."

Councilwoman Carole Smitherman said nothing should be done without a clear understanding from the family.

"One thing that I don't want to happen is to come between children and a spouse," she said. "I'd urge us all to sit down before any funds are expended. If the Shuttlesworth children or Mrs. Shuttlesworth want our help, I would like to see if we can do this in a way that's decent, proper and in order."

Councilman Jay Roberson said he still supports the new foundation as long as the city's money is used for the mission that was stated.

In addition to honoring Shuttlesworth and providing scholarships, Sephira Shuttlesworth said this week the foundation would seek to provide financial support to other aging civil rights figures.

"If it's not going to be used for the purpose of the foundation, then we as a council should consider rescinding that money," Roberson said.

Sephira Shuttlesworth said more details about the foundation and its goals will be available in late October during an official launch.